


Aftermath

by twilightscribe



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Consequences, Established Relationship, Face Punching, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Marriage, Not Tony Stark Friendly, One Shot, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Secret Marriage, Thor Punches Tony Stark in the Face, Tony Stark Is Not Helping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 21:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15693786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightscribe/pseuds/twilightscribe
Summary: In which Thor returns to Earth and discovers that the Avengers have fallen apart – with Ross being to blame. He doesnottake the news well.





	Aftermath

The first thing that strikes him is the silence.

No one comes to greet him when he lands. When he enters the complex, the only sound he hears is that of his boots clicking against the floor.

It’s strange, entering the compound, to find it deserted. Not only that, but everything still looks untouched and new; as though no one has yet to walk the halls. He hesitates, unsure if he should continue on or call out for someone. He knows that _someone_ has to know that he arrived; he’s hard to miss.

But no one comes out to greet him. He remains, alone, standing in an empty corridor.

After a few moments pass, it becomes awkward, and he can’t stand still any longer. Surely there must be _someone_ here; he just needs to find them.

He loses track of the corridors as he passes through them, walks by empty rooms, and there is still no sign of habitation. There’s no sign that _anyone_ has ever been in these rooms; they all look empty, unused, and waiting for someone to come fill them with a presence of any kind. The further into the complex he wanders, the more it becomes clear that something is _very_ wrong.

It seems to take longer than it does for him to reach the large, sprawling rooms at the centre of the complex; the ones that a shrinking part of him expects to find full of his comrades. He emerges into the room and –

“Oh _shit_.”

He blinks, “Stark.” Then, “Where is everyone?”

“Uh, well, alright. That’s kind of a long story – and I do mean _long_.”

Behind Tony, Rhodes gets to his feet, albeit a little unsteadily. His legs seem stiff, and his gait awkward, as though he’s still adjusting to walking, and he recognizes it as belonging to someone who is still recovering from a grievous injury.

“What happened?”

“The Accords happened,” Rhodes replies. But he grins tiredly at him, and reaches out to clap him on the shoulder, “You’ve been gone a long time, Thor. A lot’s happened?”

“I don’t understand,” Thor says. “The Accords? What would those be?”

“Well see,” Tony interrupts. “There was an… incident with the Avengers. And people rightly started to question whether or not they – we – should be an independent entity operating with no oversight on an international scale. So… the Accords. They were going to fix things; make things _better_ ; have us operating with oversight, with people to answer to. But _some_ of us didn’t think so.”

Tony shrugs, “We got into a fight – a real nasty one and _of fucking course_ , Steve pulled that whole sanctimonious, holier-than-thou bullshit about it all. He thought that Ross was–”

“Ross,” Thor says slowly. “ _Thaddeus_ Ross?”

“He’s Secretary of State now – headed up and championed the Accords, he’s the–”

Thor has very little memory of what immediately happened.

Here is what he does remember: Tony, shooting backwards, back arching and crashing into the wall hard enough that the plaster cracks. His vision goes black at the edges, and Thor has heard of ‘seeing red’ before, but never thought that he would experience it himself.

Now is different.

“ _Ross_. You listened to _Ross._ ” His voice is level, too calm, even to his own ears, and lightning begins to crackle between his fingers, arching between the circles of plate on his armour. “Did you forget what he’s done?!”

“What the _fuck_ , Thor?!”

He shrugs off Rhodes’ restraining hands, sparks singing the air and leaving behind the tell-tale scent of ozone, which hangs heavy in the air, and advances towards Tony.

“He _hunted_ Bruce; treated him as an _animal_ that he had some _right_ to experiment upon. He made Bruce _fear_ and _hurt_ and _**you** listened to him_?!”

Tony dodges the next punch. Which is lucky for him, as Thor’s fist plunges into the plaster of the wall as though it was made of butter, and that then explodes outwards, lightning singing through the air and causing the floor beneath Thor’s feet to crack and splinter.

“I can explain: the Accords–”

“Of everyone, we thought _you_ would understand – would know. You _knew_ what he’s done! And still, you sided with _him_?!”

“What do you mean ‘we’–”

Controlling his anger is difficult. He’s felt anger before, but not on this level; not coupled with such a bitter feeling of betrayal. Thor’s fingers curl, trying to curb his anger and failing. Lightning continues to spark between his fingers, around his clenched fists, crackling through the air around him.

“Thor, you need to calm down,” Rhodes says, holding his hands up. “It’s complicated–”

“You would take the word of a man who _hunted_ your comrade – someone we believed you thought of as a _friend_ – as though he were mere game or sport? He has no honour; he doesn’t care for others, only what benefit they could bring him. Ross only cares about _power_ and will do whatever he must to obtain it.”

“He’s the Secretary of State, Thor, there’s not a lot we can do. And besides that, we _signed_ the Accords – which you’re going to have to do too.”

“I do not answer to Ross, nor any of you.”

“You’re an _Avenger_ , Thor, you–”

“Consider this my resignation,” Thor states – though it’s nearly a snarl. “And let me remind you that unlike you, I am not of Earth – I am, first and foremost, of Asgard. And as its king, I’m not party to your laws.”

“Wha–”

“You’re–”

Thor straightens his shoulders, draws in a breath, “With the death of my father, the throne falls to me. And the safety and fate of my people come first. I came here seeking the counsel and company of friends and allies, but I see that I have none.”

“Thor.” Tony’s spluttering, his face already turning black and blue; he’ll be sporting one very impressive black eye in the coming hours. “You don’t understand; there wasn’t any choice. _This_ was the only way that we could fix things.”

“You could have done anything else. You could have chosen not to listen to and side with the one who abused and hunted Bruce for so many years and made him fear like I have never seen before.” He turns away, but pauses, adding, “It’s not me you have to explain yourself to, but Bruce. He will be devastated when I tell him what you have done.”

“Wait, _you_ know where Bruce is?”

“Of course. He is my husband.”

 

 

 

When he returns to the ship, he does not immediately return to his chambers – to Bruce. He needs time and space to calm himself, to temper his anger so that it isn’t so overpowering. Lightning is still crackling in the air around him and, the last time he glanced at his reflection, his eye is still flickering with the glow of it.

Rather, he wanders through the lower halls of the ship, trying to sort out what he has learned and the confrontation that he just had.

Thor considers himself to be rather forgiving. But when Bruce is concerned, he finds that he can’t be. He had been so afraid, so nervous, when he had begun courting him – so terrified that this too would be snatched from him, that he was undeserving of it and of Thor. Yet, he is sweet and shy, even now, as he slowly comes out of his shell.

He pauses at one of the large windows, through which he can see the curve of Earth. He props an arm against it, leaning into it and staring at the world below him. Earth isn’t deserving of his anger, for he loves the planet, its people, and it _did_ give him his love.

“Thor? Are you alright?”

Bruce’s hands are considerably smaller than Thor’s own, but warm and comforting, as he lays one on Thor’s arm.

For a second, he freezes, before his anger fizzles out – fading into a sizzling mass that settles low in his gut. He turns, mouth softening into a smile, and covers Bruce’s hand with his, “I’ll be fine; you don’t have to worry.”

Bruce frowns, “Did something happen with the others? I know it’s been two years, but… did they take it well? That we got married?”

His heart cracks in his chest. There are tears burning at the back of his eye, and he reaches out to cup Bruce’s face in his hands. He strokes Bruce’s cheeks with his thumbs, leaning in and and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Thor?”

The words are feel a little like they’re choking him; they’re stuck up in his throat, a tight ball that makes his chest ache. And all he can do is wrap Bruce in his arms and hold him tightly for a few moments, murmuring, “Know that I love you and will never leave you. No matter what comes.”

“Thor? You’re starting to worry me. What happened?”

He pulls back, keeping Bruce in his arms, “I… it’s a long story.”

“Should we be having this conversation here? Or–” Bruce glances around and Thor can spy Heimdall standing a short distance away, which means that their conversation is as private as it ever could be. “Oh.”

He brushes the backs of his knuckles against Bruce’s cheek, “No matter what I tell you, Bruce: You are safe now; I would never let anyone hurt you.”

“Please, tell me what happened. I need to know, Thor. I stayed here, like you asked, even though I wanted to go with you.”

“Ross is Secretary of State now,” Thor says. “And because of him, the Avengers are no more.”

The words take a little time to register. But when they do, the blood completely drains from Bruce’s face and he staggers, leaning into Thor, his hands clawing at the armour as they try to find a grip on it. His breathing is ragged, catching in his throat, and when he looks up to meet Thor’s worried gaze, his eyes are glittering.

“... _what_ …? They… I don’t… Ross?”

He nods, “Several sided with Ross; Steve and several others disagreed, and are now wanted fugitives. I could not get into contact with them. I learned of all this when I confronted Stark, who did side with Ross.”

“Tony… _Tony_ sided with Ross?”

“As did Natasha.”

Bruce blanches, and Thor has to catch him before he collapses to the floor. Even then, he can’t stop it when Bruce vomits, violently, onto the floor. He continues to retch and retch and retch, until there’s nothing left but bile and even then, he continues to heave until he collapses against Thor, shaking terribly.

“But they… they _knew_. I… I-I told them both. I _trusted_ them; I thought I loved Nat. But they… they…”

He presses a kiss to Bruce’s temple, “I’m so sorry, my love. Truly, I am. This is not the news I ever wanted to bring you.”

His breathing is still ragged, and Thor worries that he might either Hulk out or pass out. Neither are things that either of them want at that moment. All he can do is gather Bruce close, hold him tightly, and run his fingers through his hair.

“I… I don’t… what’s going to happen to me now?”

And Bruce sounds so _broken_ , so _lost_ , and all that Thor wishes in that moment is for Tony to be there so he can punch him _again_. It had been slow and he hates the metaphor, but Bruce really _was_ like a delicate flower that had only just begun to bloom – and now he’s watching it wilt and close up all over again.

“Nothing that you don’t want to,” Thor says firmly. “None of them can hurt you, can lay a hand on you, without my permission. Bruce, you remember what I pledged to you?”

Bruce blinks slowly, then nods, “You… you promised me your love, your fidelity, your protection and your home.”

“Exactly,” Thor says. “You have my home as surely as I do; you are not of Earth anymore, you are as much an Asgardian as I am. Me and my people would lay down our lives to protect you, as you would them.”

“I can’t – I can’t ask that of you. Or them.” The words come thick and fast, “Ross… he… he wants me, wants the Hulk, and I–”

“You are not _just_ Bruce Banner anymore. You, Bruce, are prince-consort of Asgard. My husband. Ross could no sooner touch you than he could me; to do so would mean war.”

“I – Thor, you can’t…”

“ _Bruce_.”

He stops, looking up at Thor and his eyes are still sparkling with unshed tears, “I… Thor, I couldn’t… you can’t be serious. I won’t put you in danger; I won’t be the reason for you getting hurt.”

“Bruce,” he gently chucks Bruce under the chin. “The only way that Ross could hurt me is if he hurt you, and I’m not going to let that happen. You have my word.”

For a very long time, Bruce simply stares at Thor, searching his face. Eventually, though, he nods his head and leans in, brushing a kiss against Thor’s lips.

“Thank you,” he breathes. He manages a weak smile, “I… I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you, but I’m grateful that you feel that way. I love you, Thor; I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Especially not because of me.”

“Leave this to me,” Thor murmurs, kissing Bruce’s cheeks, his nose, his eyelids, and his lips. “I’ll take care of this, I promise you. I _will_ keep you safe; you’re not alone anymore.”

“... thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Words:** 2287 words
> 
> Written for [space-viking-puppy](https://space-viking-puppy.tumblr.com/); this isn't quite what they were looking for, but after I stewed on my feelings about CW and Ross for a while, I just _needed_ to get this down. I put myself through the fucking awful that was Civil War just so I could have some idea of what I was doing while writing this fic, only for me to zone out through most of it because I frankly stopped caring. Oh, and then I got pissed when Tony and Nat were talking about wishing that Hulk/Bruce was there and _Tony acted as though of fucking course Bruce would side with them_ , ignoring his history with Ross and everything that the man has done.
> 
> And I'mg going to stop right now, because no one really wants me to go off about Ross in the author's notes of my fic. Hope you enjoy this and please, I really don't want to hear about how "Tony was right"/"Steve was wrong" or any of that bullshit; that's not what sparked this fic and my feelings on it in the first place. I really don't give a shit about which side was right or wrong or anything like that, so don't be bringing that up to me cause it'll just get you ignored.


End file.
